Chables bbayto st bied



(No Model.)

G. B. BIRD.

SUSPENDER BUCKLE.

PatentedApr. 20, 1886.

R J MMW M m n m m 1 .W w

CHARLES EEAYTolv' EIED, SIOUX crrY, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO ELLEN o.

BIRD, or SAME PLACE.

'SUSPENDER-BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 340,088, dated April 20, 1886.

Application filed January 528, 1883, Serial No. 154,215.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES BRAYTON BIRD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux City, in the county of Woodbury,

State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles; and I hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same.

Myinvention relates, generally, to a buckle [O by means of which one strap is adjust-ably connected to another, and more particularly to a buckle in which the strap is connected and adjusted by means of a slide provided with a swinging beariugtongue. Such a device as 1 the latter is applicable to and is generally used upon suspenders, and for the sake of convenience in the description and drawings I have represented my invention as thus applied.

My invention consists in a buckle compris- 2o ing a slide of sufficient dimensions to receive the web of the suspender or other strap, provided on one side with an opening for the bearing-tongue, and having guides formed on opposite sides of such opening to receive corresponding guides upon a slide orguard,wl1ich is provided for the purpose of covering the bearing-tongue, and has means formed upon it for the attachment of the buckle to the opposing strap or reach or other object to which 0 the strap is to be adjnstably connected.

My invention further consistsin the particular details of construction which I prefer to employ in carrying out my invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front eleva 5 tion of my device adapted to the connection of the strap and'ends of asuspender; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the same on the line 2 2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the the same on the line 33, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a modi- 40 tied construction.

A is the strap, and B the reach or ends,of a suspender.

C is the slide, to receive the web or strap of the snspende1-,which I preferably make in the manner shown the drawingsthat is to say, of a single blank of metal having its sides turned over to leavearectangular passage for the strap. In forming this slide I prefer to use a blank ofsuch a size only that when turned over its edges will not meet, but will leave an opening, 1., to receive the bearing-tongue D,

figuration.

which will be hereinafter described, and I prefer, also, to turn back the edges, as shown, to provide on opposite sides of the opening tthe guides s. I prefer also to cut the blank in such a way that the two opposite sides converge, so that when the edges are turned over to form the slide they will leave an opening, t, with converging sides, the guides 8 formed upon them converging also. Such an arrangement, the advantage of which will presently appear, is illustrated in Fig. l.

Toward the upper end of the guides s,l pro vide bearings in the form of apertures, as shown, which support the bearing-tongue D. This bearing-tongue comprises the leaf r and bearing-part p, the latter being preferably serrated at its bearing edge. A convenient way to form this feature is to make the parts 1 and p of a single piece, bent twice, as shown in cross-section in Fig. 3, leaving a passage to receive the bearing-pin or pivot 0, which enters the apertures formed in the guides s.

The guides may be provided with projec tions instead of holes, and the'pivot-pin 0 may be omitted, the projections entering the passage formed in bending the bearing-tongue in the well-known manner. A plate, E, which constitutes the cover or guard,is provided with guides 8 upon its edges, preferably by having them turned, over, as shown, to engage and slide upon the guides 8 formed upon the slide 0. WVhere the guides s are made to converge,

I prefer to form the guard E of the same con- I provide the guard E with means to permit its connection with the suspenderend or other objects to which the strap is to be connected, which may consist in the three slots n shown in Fig. 1, the hook shown in Fig. 4, or any other construction suitable to the particular purpose to which the buckle is to be applied.

The operation of the device is as follows: The guard E being removed, the tongue 1" of the bearing-tongue D raised, raising with it 5 the bearing part 1), and leaving a free passage through the slide for the web or strap, which is then inserted to the proper point of adj ustment. The tongue r is thereupon pressed downward, causing the bearing part1) firmly r00 to engage and retain the strap at the point of slid upon the adjustment. The guard E is guides s, and covering the tongue D prevents its release from its engagement with the strap. Where the buckle is used upon suspenders, I prefer to make the guard large enough entirely to cover the tongue, which is thus prevented from coming in contact with the clothing; but this construction is not in all cases. essential. The draft upon the guard, to which is attached the reac'hor other device, is in the direction of the diverging guides s and s, so that the use of the device serves to maintain the guard and hence the bearing-tongue in its position, and entirely prevents the displacement of the strap.

I have shown in Fig. 4 a modified construe-- tion, which, while not presenting the advantages found in the construction in Fig. 1, is still effective to accomplish the purpose of my invention. Instead of forming diverging guides s and s, theya-re made parallel, and I provide at the lower end of each ashoulder or stop, m, which impinges against the stop on the other. It is obvious that the stops m may be formed at the upper end of the guides s and 6, if desired,and accomplish the same purpose. It is quite clear that the slot it need be of a length sufficient only to receive and permit the rotation of the bearingpart p of the bearing-tongue, though, owing to convenience of manufacturing the device with a'continuous opening, I prefer such a construction; but I do not limit myself to any particular arrangement in this regard. It is of course not essen' tial that the sides of the opening t or the guard E shall be parallel with the guides; nor that the guides s and 8 shall be formed in the particular manner shown. They may be separately formed upon the parts and any ornamental design or configuration desired given to the slide and guard.

A device constructed in accordance with my invention presents many advantages in its neatness, durability, and security. The accidental raising or lowering of the bearing-tongue is prevented, as well as the bending of the tongue from accidental causes. It avoids the wearing or tearing of clothes when used as a suspender-buckle, inasmuch as it at all times presents asmooth surface. Besides being capable of ornamentation,it presents a neat and attractive device.

The present. application is a division of an application for an improvement in suspenders filed by me January 28,1885, Serial No. 154,215.

by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A buckle comprising a slide carrying a pivoted angular clamp and having guides formed upon it at opposite ends of the clamp, and a guard or cover moving upon the guides and entirely covering the clamp and preventingits release, substantially as described.-

2. A buckle comprising a slide, 0, carrying a pivoted bearing-tongue, D, and having guides 8 formed on the slide on opposite sides of the, 6 bearing-tongue, and a guard having guides s, substantially as described.

3. A Suspender-buckle comprising a slide provided with an opening to receive the bearing-tongue, an angular bearingtongue pivoted in the said opening, oppositely-converging guides formed on the slide on each side-of the opening, and a guard or cover provided with guides to engage with and move upon the guides upon the slide and having means of connection to the suspcnder-end,substantially as described.

4... A buckle comprising a slide formed of a single piece of metal bent to leave a passage for the strap. and leave a space between the 8: opposite edges to receive the bearing-tongue, and having its opposite edges turned back to form guides, an angularbearing-tongue pivoted in the guides thus formed, and a guard covering the tongue and preventing. its release, formed of a single piece of metal having its edges turned over to form guides to slide upon the guides on the slide and provided with slots n, substantially as described.

5. A buckle comprising the following elements: a slide, 0, having opening t, having converging sides and guides s, a bearing tongue, D, pivoted in the opening t, and a. guard, E, having guides s, substantially as described.

CHARLES BRAYTON BIRD.

In presence of- J NO. N. WEAVER, I

J. L. MORRIS.

\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure 55 j 

